Sheriff accused of having sex with inmates pleads guilty

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee sheriff has pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges after being accused of using his position to have sex with jail inmates.

Fentress County Sheriff Charles Cravens pleaded guilty Thursday to three counts of honest services fraud and one count of deprivation of rights under color of law.

The U.S. attorney's office in Nashville said the 47-year-old sheriff is accused of summoning a female jail inmate to his office for sex. The prosecutor's office said the sheriff is also accused of driving that inmate and another one to a trailer and having sex with them both. Authorities say the sheriff is also accused of having sex with a third inmate in his car and participating in the beating of a male inmate.

Cravens' attorney, Alex Little, said he would comment later in the day.